


One Side of the Window

by likeromeoandjuliet



Series: From Our Window [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst and Drama, Betty Cooper would never do this but oh well, F/M, I hate it, Jughead Jones is a good man, feeling sad, post 4x17, this is the timeline that sucks, tw cheating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23778067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likeromeoandjuliet/pseuds/likeromeoandjuliet
Summary: In the darkest timeline, Betty Cooper kisses Archibald. To be clear, I don’t believe Betty Cooper would ever do this. Alas, this came up. She should’ve told him right away. And this is it. It’s Betty Cooper realizing she fucked up and Jughead Jones being a good man.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: From Our Window [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1715635
Comments: 17
Kudos: 76
Collections: 7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	One Side of the Window

The worst part of them breaking up is their family. The shared one. The fact that they lived together. It was creating a different schedule around when the other was around. Betty tried to give him the space he had asked and he spent as much time away from home as he possibly could. 

Jellybean’s permanent scowl when Betty was around made everything icy and painful and just plain wrong. FP couldn’t look her in the eye and even her own mother only talked to her when she would start the conversation. She heard the whispers between FP and her mother, hushed when they thought everybody was asleep. But Betty hadn’t slept in a while, so she heard. 

‘She broke my boy’s heart. He’s destroyed, Ali. I don’t think he’s ever gonna come home once he graduates. I know it. He’s gonna pack up and leave.’ 

‘I know. I never thought she’d do something like this.’ 

‘I understand that teenagers are dumb and stupid and they make mistakes but Betty hasn’t been a teenager in a while. What the hell was she thinking?!’ 

The curtains remain shut as they were the day of the kiss and Jughead left and she looked out to find Archie there, longing look on his face. She refuses to ever open them again, sunlight be damned. She doesn’t deserve sunlight, she doesn’t deserve anyone’s sympathy. She’d fucked up. God, she fucked up so bad and she doesn’t even know why. 

Was she so permanently damaged that she couldn’t fucking keep what was right for her? What made her happy? Maybe she was doomed to live a miserable life, all her doing. Maybe she wasn’t meant for happiness. 

God, she felt so alone. Veronica shut her out, rightfully so, not before sending an email that sounded so much like breaking up a business deal Betty couldn’t bring herself to cry any more. 

‘ Please refrain from any additional contact, unless warranted. There will be no response.’ 

She hadn’t just made a mistake. She ruined her life. The love of her life. Her best friend. Her family. Her future. All of it. Now she was alone, she felt unwelcome in what used to feel like home. Jughead was sleeping the basement. Everyone hated her and she had no one to blame but herself. 

“ Mr. Jones, do you think I can talk to you?” She questions, walking cautiously into the kitchen. 

FP looks up from his coffee, face expressionless. “Sure, Betty. What is it?” 

Betty looks down at her hands, palms dented with crescent moon wounds, her ability to control it also ruined by her own hands. “I just wanted to tell you that as soon as school is over, I’ll be in New Haven. I’ve managed to get them to anticipate my dorm room so I’ll move out as soon as possible. Jughead can go back to our-his room, I’ll get everything out. All my things.” She pauses, trying to keep the tears at bay. She’d practiced, she could do this without breaking down. “I’ve rented a storage unit in New Haven and I’ll start packing already, make sure everything that’s mine is out of the house by the time I am.” She explains, nails digging into her palms. “And you don’t have to worry about me coming to visit my mom, I have to talk to her about that, actually.” She breathes out. “I’ve decided that she can visit me and if I do want to visit her here, I’ll stay at a hotel or something. I...is that okay?” 

“You’re bleeding, Betty.” FP’s eyes are filled with worry, in a way that reminds her of Jug which only makes her cry harder. She doesn’t even notice that FP is guiding her to the bathroom until she’s sat on the toilet and FP is rummaging through the cabinets. 

“Please don’t.” She murmurs quietly, sobbing. “Please don’t help me. I don’t- I don’t deserve it. Please.” FP ignores her, instead he opens her hands and starts disinfecting the wounds. “I swear I stopped doing this.” The sudden shame she feels at someone else other than Jughead knowing about this hits her with a newfound strength. “I just-“

“Maybe we should bandage these, okay?” FP’s voice is soft and she sobs loudly. “Make sure you don’t do this again.” 

“I don’t deserve this.” She chokes out painfully.“I swear you never have to see me again once I leave. I swear, okay? I’ll leave and I’ll never come back, I can do that.” The ugly desperate feelings that have caged her as of late make its appearing, clawing at the walls of her misery. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” Her chest is heaving up down, everything feels so out of control and she can’t breathe. She’d lost everything. She’d lost everyone over a stupid fucking kiss. 

“Betty! Hey!” FP grabs hold of her, kneeling in front of the toilet, holding her against. “Breathe, Betty.” He tries to soothe her but it’s to no avail. “You’re having a panic attack, sweetheart. You need to breathe. Focus on my breathing.” It’s the first time in a week someone’s held her, talked to her in a way that hadn’t felt distant or like they’d rather be anywhere but there. “It’s okay. I forgive you. It’s okay, Betty.” FP sighs, rubbing her back. “I forgive you.” 

It takes a good ten minutes before she’s able to actually breathe normally but FP stays with her, holding her, keeping her in place. 

“I’m sorry.” She whispers brokenly. “I don’t-I’m so sorry.” 

FP frowns. “You need to take care of yourself.” He murmurs. “You can’t do this.” Taking her hands in his, she sniffles. “Hey, listen to me.” He makes her look up at him. “I know you regret this. I know that. Before Jughead can forgive you-““ 

“He shouldn’t. He shouldn’t forgive me. I’ve never deserved him, Mr. Jones. He’s always been too good for me.” Betty shakes her head.

“ Betty...” FP sighs. “You hurt him. I know my son’s insecure and that you had a crush on Archie when you were kids and that my son always pined after you. And this is...his greatest fear happening. That you’d choose Archie.” 

“It was a stupid mistake. I don’t love Archie. Archie’s an idiot. I love Jug.” 

FP chuckles softly. “I know you love my son. The things you’ve done for him are proof enough. You’ve saved his life so many times, Betty. And I don’t want to talk about why you did what you did. Maybe in time, he can forgive you.” 

“It’ll never be the same.” 

“You’re going to have to get him to trust you and I don’t it’s going to be good.” 

She nods. “I know.” 

“So, yeah, you go to Yale. You figure yourself out. You take care of yourself, Betty. And who knows what the future holds.” 

“I don’t want a future without him.” 

“Well, you should’ve thought of that before.” FP stands up, offering a hand and then hugging her. “Go to school, kid. I’ll see you later.” 

•

“ _ You lied to me.” Jughead breathes out. “All this fucking time. I was really right. You were just waiting for Archie...” He takes a step back, away from her.  _

_ “No, no, no, it was a mistake, a dumb mistake. We got caught up in the memories-“  _

_ “You got caught up?! Is that what you do, you get caught up and you kiss people?!” He laughs bitterly. “Fuck You, Betty. I’ve loved you all my life and you promised me I was it. And yet, my worst nightmare is happening. The one thing that could actually destroy us. Archie fucking Andrews, because of course, of course! Of course it’s him. It’ll always be him. No matter what. No matter what I do, I’m always the second choice.”  _

_ “That is not true! Jug, we can figure this out, okay? You and me, together-“ _

_ She reaches for him, he pushes her away backed against the wall. “No.”  _

_ “Jug, please! I don’t know what I was thinking, okay? I just...it was just this dreamlike fantasy from when I was I kid. And it was all I wanted but it’s not what I want, Jug.” Her hands are on his cheeks and he looks so broken. Her Juggie looks so broken and it’s all her fault. The pain in his eyes, she can feel it In her heart. “You’re the one I want, okay? It’s you. It’s always been you. It’ll always be you.” She whispers desperately and he turns his head away, crying.  _

_ “I’m sleeping in the bunker. You do whatever you want, Betty. Stay here. Go to Archie. I don’t care. I can’t do this.” He moves past her, rushing out of the house and all she can do is sob. It’s like someone is physically crushing her heart in her chest. And she can’t possibly fathom how she’s supposed to live without him. But she guesses this is it and that she’ll have to.  _

•

She eats her lunch alone. Even though eating is a bit of a hard task anyway. She hasn’t had any apetite in a while and she figures that until she can somehow numb the pain in her heart, she won’t look like a put together Betty Cooper, all paired up with the ponytail. This is her now, broken, ruined with no hope. She hasn’t actually seen Jughead except in class and it destroys her, seeing him, the way he sits the furthest away from her that he can. He hasn’t worn the beanie, she notices and it just hurts, it hurts so much. She’s lost count of the amount of times she’s rushed to the bathroom just to cry. 

Veronica doesn’t spare a glance at her. And Archie’s too ashamed to say a word, so she’s alone. And she feels alone. It feels worse than anything she’s felt. 

And then she’s in the blue and gold and he knocks on the door. 

“Can we talk?” Jughead questions. 

“Yeah.” She nods as he walks in. 

He sighs, sitting on the desk, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve been trying to think of a way to talk to you. And I’ve realized that it’s been years since I couldn’t talk to you.” He hasn’t looked into her eyes yet, looking anywhere but the eyes he fell in love with. “You hurt me. And I don’t think I can get over that, that quick. It’s been a while since I’ve had to live without you and I hate it, I really fucking hate it but every time I look at you, I feel betrayed. It’s making me question every moment in our relationship. You’re the person I trusted most. I trusted you with my life. And I don’t know if I’ll ever trust you again.” 

She nods, swallowing the lump in her throat. “I understand.” 

“I need time. I don’t know how long it’ll take. But I need time and I need distance. So, I just wanted to tell you that, once school is over I’m taking a gap year. I don’t where I’m going, just away from here.” He shrugs. “I’ve finished every assignment so I’ll graduate.” 

“That’s good, Jug. I’m proud of you.” She tries to smile. “I’m leaving too. For Yale, the day we graduate.” 

“Okay.” He says quietly and then he gets up to leave but turns around. “I know you regret it. I do. I just...can’t do this. I need to guard my heart or something like that.” He chokes out a painful laugh. “Goodbye, Betty Cooper.”

“Jug?” She calls out. And he turns around. “Nothing was a lie. I need you to know that. I know you don’t trust me but I need to get this out, okay? I love you. You were never a second choice. You’ve always been more than I deserve. You always will be. But I love you, I’ve never loved Archie. I can’t. Not when my heart’s taken. It’ll always be yours. I’ll always love you.” She wipes away the tears that just keep on coming when he starts crying. 

He nods his head. “I love you too, Betts.” And then he leaves, leaving her alone again. 

Two weeks later, she’s leaving, getting everything into her car, the one her mother let her keep. Alice hugs her at the front porch, doesn’t say anything else before returning back inside. FP waves from the window with a soft smile on his face and it makes her feel a little brighter. 

“Betty!” 

She doesn’t want to believe it’s him that is really calling out her name but when she turns around , there he is, standing in the middle of the road, S T-shirt, flannel over it, looking every bit like the boy that climbed through her window. 

“I wanted to say goodbye.” He looks conflicted as if he’s questioning his own decision to come after being away the whole night. “Um...I...this feels weird. I’m sorry, that’s a shitty thing to say. What I mean is, I can’t hate you. And I want to say goodbye. I believe that if what we had was real, then we both deserve a goodbye.” 

She takes a step closer to him and he lets her take his hands in her. “Okay.” She whispers. “I hope someday you can forgive me. My dorm room is 213. If you ever decide we can try to be friends or something, anything. If you ever decide you can trust.” She pauses, looking into his eyes. “I’ll wait for you, even if I have to wait my whole life. If you decide that you can trust me again when you’re eighty. If I’m alive, come find me.” 

He chuckles softly. “Alright.” He nods. “I guess this is goodbye.” 

“God, I hope not.” She breathes out and he pulls her in for a hug. His arms around her send a breath of fresh air back into her body. And she revels in the warmth his arms bring, savoring it, wanting to bottle it up forever. 

“Goodbye, Betts.” He pulls away to look at her. “Goodbye.” 

She caresses his cheek. “Goodbye, Juggie.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, I’m sad. So I wrote this.


End file.
